The lectures given in the Summer School covered most of the important topics in controlled nuclear fusion and high temperature plasma physics. The topics are as follows: tokamak research, stellarator physics, transport and confinement of high temperature plasma, plasma-wall interaction and edge plasma physics, heating and current drive, diagnostics and general plasma theory.

Fusion research started over half a century ago. Although the task remains unfinished, the end of the road could be in sight if society makes the right decisions. Nuclear Fusion: Half a Century of Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research is a careful, scholarly account of the course of fusion energy research over the past fifty years. The authors outline the different paths followed by fusion research from initial ignorance to present understanding. They explore why a particular scheme would not work and why it was more profitable to concentrate on the mainstream tokamak development. The book features descriptive sections, in-depth explanations of certain physical and technical issues, scientific terms, and an extensive glossary that explains relevant abbreviations and acronyms.

Plasma Physics and Nuclear Fusion Research covers the theoretical and experimental aspects of plasma physics and nuclear fusion. The book starts by providing an overview and survey of plasma physics; the theory of the electrodynamics of deformable media and magnetohydrodynamics; and the particle orbit theory. The text also describes the plasma waves; the kinetic theory; the transport theory; and the MHD stability theory. Advanced theories such as microinstabilities, plasma turbulence, anomalous transport theory, and nonlinear laser plasma interaction theory are also considered. The book further tackles the pinch and tokamak confinement devices; the stellarator confinement devices; the mirror devices; and the next generation tokamaks. The text also encompasses the fusion reactor studies; heating; and diagnostics. Physicists and people involved in the study of plasma physics and nuclear fusion will find the book invaluable.

Power production and its consumption and distribution are among the most urgent problems of mankind. Despite positive dynamics in introducing renewable sources of energy, nuclear power plants still remain the major source of carbon-free electric energy. Fusion can be an alternative to fission in the foreseeable future. Research in the field of controlled nuclear fusion has been ongoing for almost 100 years. Magnetic confinement systems are the most promising for effective implementation, and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is under construction in France. To accomplish nuclear fusion on Earth, we have to resolve a number of scientific and technological problems. This monograph includes selected chapters on nuclear physics and mechanical engineering within the scope of nuclear fusion.